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A beautiful fairy tale with soul. My rating: 8/10
Short version: A beautiful fairy tale, great platformer, worth checking out. But keep in mind it's a 2012 game and some aspects feel a bit dated. My rating: 8/10
1. Gameplay - the game calls itself a Metroidvania, but it's more of a platformer mixed with a slasher. Levels are full of enemies who die in two hits on normal difficulty. Some people find it boring, but I think it's fun. It's enjoyable to tear through levels like a hurricane, mowing down hordes of enemies. It's nice to take a break from games where every enemy can kill you. Here that won't happen. The whole experience is about having fun, and even bosses aren't much of a challenge. Though there are some really bad design choices. For example, any environmental damage knocks the character back a huge distance. Or teleportation only works at map entrances/exits, so if you need to get to the middle of the map - you have to run there. On the other hand, there are good decisions rare for the genre - an extremely convenient map showing treasure locations from the start. Or the "Whirlwind" mechanic (one of Dust's abilities) allowing you to fly through a whole section with one button press while killing enemies along the way.
2. Design and graphics - graphic design is this project's strong point. I'm not a furry fan, but everything here is depicted beautifully, lively, and emotionally. Every character feels alive. As for the graphics, despite being pretty, they're unfortunately outdated. Backgrounds are rather blurry, playing in 4K is impossible, and some effects like snow have to be turned off because otherwise the game becomes unplayable. The game definitely needed remaster.
3. Lore and characters - the plot is fairly interesting, though it leaves some questions unanswered. This game is part of the Elysian Tail universe, so maybe checking it out would help understand what's going on. But anyway, these are details, the general story is decent. Characters - they're just great. You believe in them. There are no boring or forced characters. Quality humor that always fits, and equally good dramatic moments. Can't skip mentioning the voice acting. Rarely will you find better quality character voices than here.
To sum up. I played the game back in 2012 at release, and even then noticed how fun it was. Now, in 2025, I've only confirmed my initial impressions. This game is for relaxing - there are practically no hard gaming moments, no ambiguous plot, or dumb characters. I'm very disappointed that this project didn't grow into something bigger and we never got Dust 2. Though, maybe it's for the best. At least the memory of this project isn't tarnished by failed sequels.